THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
WWW.PRESIDENTLINCOLN.
INTRODUCTION
I
n July 1863, Union and
Confederate forces met
in battle outside the small
market town of Gettysburg,
Pennsylvania.
For three
days, under the hot summer
sun, the bloodiest fight of the
war raged on. In the end,
51,000 men died on the battlefield. On November 19,
1863, President Lincoln was
invited to make a few remarks at the dedication of
the battlefield as a national
cemetery. The main speaker,
Edward Everett, spoke for
two hours before Lincoln
took the stage. His speech
lasted only a few minutes. In
it, he reminded the audience
of the sacrifices made by
America¡¯s forefathers; he
honored the men who had
died on the battle field at
Gettysburg; he challenged
America to continue to fight
for unity and
equality as put
forth in the
Declaration of
Independence;
he painted the
war in global
and epic proportions; and
he redirected
the war¡¯s purpose as a battle to end slavery.
LESSON 1: UNDERSTANDING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
GRADE 5-8
Objectives
Materials
? Name three important concepts Lincoln laid out in the Gettysburg Address.
? Gettysburg Address broken down
into sentences (see Procedure)
? Apply word analysis and vocabulary skills to comprehend selections.
? Define unfamiliar vocabulary using a dictionary or thesaurus.
? Apply reading strategies to improve understanding and fluency.
? Classify information from primary sources to form generalizations about the Civil War and democracy.
? Hypothesize the primary theme of the Gettysburg Address.
PROCEDURE
1.
Divide students into ten groups. Assign each group a sentence from the Gettysburg
Address.
?
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
?
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so
conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.
?
We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of
that field as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might
live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
?
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow
this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far
above our poor power to add or detract.
? Translation Evaluation Worksheet
(in this lesson plan)
? Understanding the Gettysburg Address Worksheet (in this lesson
plan)
Page 2
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
PROCEDURE (CONTINUED)
?
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they
did here.
?
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here
have thus far so nobly advanced.
?
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion
?
to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion
?
that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom ¨C
?
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
2.
Working together and using their own words, each group will create a ¡°translation¡± of what Lincoln
meant. Students will use dictionaries and/or a thesaurus to determine word meanings. Students will
provide the teacher with their finished translation.
3.
Have each group read their translation to the class. The class will ¡°grade¡± each group using the
Translation Evaluation Worksheet.
4.
Create a ¡°translation¡± of the entire Gettysburg Address to pass out to students.
5.
After students have had time to review the ¡°translation,¡± ask them to complete the Understanding the
Gettysburg Address Worksheet.
6.
Ask students to hypothesize on the main theme of the Gettysburg Address. Discuss as a class.
LESSON 2: THE LANGUAGE OF THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS
Objectives
GRADE 8-12
Materials
?
Identify at least three key themes of the Gettysburg Address.
?
Develop a persuasive speech that can be presented orally or in written format in 267 words or less.
?
Identify the various literary devices including grammatical parallelism, antithesis, alliteration, and repetition and
use them appropriately in an oral or written speech.
?
Students will analyze the effectiveness of the literary devices employed in the Gettysburg Address.
?
Gettysburg Address (in this
lesson plan)
?
Literary Tools Worksheet (in
this lesson plan)
?
Internet access
?
Paper, pencils, pens
INTRODUCTION
T
he Gettysburg Address
has endured as one of
the most important documents in U.S. history. What
makes this speech so meaningful and why have the words
endured long after Abraham
Lincoln¡¯s delivery?
Attending and listening to lengthy public speeches
was common entertainment
during the nineteenth century
and Edward Everett, keynote
speaker at the dedication, was
one of the most famous orators of the time. Abraham
Lincoln, on the other hand,
was invited only a few weeks
before the ceremony, to deliver ¡°a few appropriate remarks.¡± There are many leg-
ends regarding how Lincoln
devised his address, but most
modern scholars believe he
researched his subject and
wrote his thoughts, if not a
first draft, before he left
Washington. One misconception was that Lincoln wrote
the address on the back of an
envelope as he was traveling
to Gettysburg. But Lincoln
Continued page 5
NAME:________________________________________________
TRANSLATION EVALUATI ON WORKSHEET
Use the form below to evaluate each translation written by your classmates.
1.
Read the translation as written on the board.
2.
Copy the translation below.
3.
Listen to the translation as it is read to you.
4.
Record your evaluation below.
Translation:
Circle the appropriate answer:
1.
The group wrote the sentence on the board and:
I understand what was written on the board.
2.
I do not understand what was written on the board
The group read the translation and:
It helped me understand it
Questions I would like to ask the group or the teacher:
My comments:
It did not help me understand it
NAME:___________________________________
UNDERSTANDING THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS WORKSHEET
Multiple Choice: Circle the letter of the best answer
to rewrite each group of words.
1.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on
this continent a new nation,
a. 27 years ago some people made a new country that brought us
together
b. 87 years ago some people made a new country that brought us
together
c. 27 years ago our relatives made a new country that brought us
together
2.
a.
b.
c.
conceived in liberty,
based on the idea of freedom
born in a free country
taken from a free country
3.
and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created
equal.
a. and made sure the song was the same as all others
b.
c.
and believed that all people are the same
4.
a.
b.
c.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war,
and written to make sure that everyone would get the same
things.
Now we are fighting a war between the states
Now we are planning a war
No we are politely debating
5.
testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and
so dedicated, can long endure.
a. Testing if any country can survive forever
b.
Trying to see if we or any country who believes in that idea can
continue to exist
6.
a.
b.
c.
7.
8.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living
and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract.
a. But in the bigger picture, we cannot make this place holy because
the men who died here already did.
b. But in the bigger picture we cannot build here because people died
here and it would be disrespectful.
c. But in a larger sense, we should not honor people who fight in
wars.
9.
The world will little note, nor long remember what we say
here, but it can never forget what they did here.
a. The world doesn¡¯t care about this place but the men who fought
here will always remember.
b. People won¡¯t remember this ceremony but they will remember
the men who fought and died here.
10. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly
advanced.
a. We need to dedicate this cemetery and make it look nice to honor
these men.
b. We who are still alive need to promise to continue to fight for the
ideas that these men died for.
11. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full
measure of devotion
a. We have to promise to make this cemetery nice and remember
these men.
b. We need to promise that we will work on the great job ahead of
us--to remember the dead we will increase our effort to save the ideas
that they died for.
12. that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have
We are standing on an important battlefield of that war.
died in vain
a. that we promise that the men who died here died for a good reason
b. that we find out if the dead died terrible deaths
People are coming to fight with us here.
c.
We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
People are coming to meet us here.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final
resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation
might live.
a. We have come to say that part of this field is holy because it is a
final resting place for those who died here so that our country can
continue to exist.
b. We have come here to create a place where soldiers can rest
because they fought so hard for our country.
that we make sure other people don¡¯t die here
13. that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom
a. that our country, under God¡¯s blessing, shall have a new form of
government
b. that our country, under God¡¯s blessing, shall be reborn in freedom
c.
that we will become a really religious country
14. and that government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the earth.
a. and that one government of lots of people should spread all over
the earth
b. and that a government of people cannot exist on this earth
c.
and that the idea that all the people should be involved in making
their own rules and laws for themselves won¡¯t be destroyed.
Page 5
WWW.PRESIDENTLINCOLN.
actually had had four and one
half months to gather his
thoughts and put pen to paper
after the battle. Lincoln did
not accept many public invitations to speak and he regarded this as a unique opportunity to explain the revolutionary
transition he envisioned for
the country¡ªthe new birth of
freedom and equality under
law.
Lincoln, careful writer and serious thinker, used
this opportunity to redirect
the nation¡¯s attention toward
the war¡¯s long term goals. He
did not use the words
"Ge tty sburg," " slave ry,"
" C o n f e de ra te , ¡° So u th ,"
¡°Battle,¡± ¡°Cemetery,¡± or
"Union." Instead of bringing
up divisive issues and narrowly defining his speech, he
spoke in abstract terms. Instead of delivering an angry
diatribe against the Confederacy, as Everett had done, Lincoln emphasized healing the
country and working toward
the ideals laid out in the Declaration of Independence.
Lincoln¡¯s address
lasted only a few minutes. He
used only 267 words in ten
sentences. Not strictly a poem, he nevertheless used
poetic devices to increase the
power of his words. So perfect was Lincoln¡¯s speech, that
the great orator Everett, requested a copy of it from
Lincoln saying, ¡°I should be
glad if I could flatter myself
that I came as near to the
central idea of the occasion in
two hours as you did in two
minutes.¡±
Lincoln employed
many rhetorical devices in his
talent with words, but his
mature speeches are especially characterized by grammatical parallelism, antithesis,
alliteration, and repetition,
and he used all four strategies
in his brief address at Gettysburg. Although public reaction to the speech was divided along partisan lines, eventually the Address was recognized for its greatness and
poetry. Today, the Gettysburg Address is universally
recognized as one of the
most moving expressions of
the democratic spirit ever
spoken.
PROCEDURE
1.
Using the Literary Tools
Worksheet have students identify the unifying structures of Lincoln¡¯s speech.
2.
Discuss as a class, comparing the examples
found.
3.
Working individually or
in pairs, use one of the
ideas in the Gettysburg
Address to create a persuasive speech. The
speech should be modeled on the c o n c i s e
presentation of ideas
found in Lincoln¡¯s speech
which are:
?
The enduring quality of
our nation.
?
The idea that in the U.S.
¡°All men are created
equal.¡±
?
Bravery and sacrifice will
be remembered forever.
?
¡°That this nation under
God shall have a new
birth of freedom.¡±
?
¡°Government of the
people by the people and
for the people shall not
perish from the earth.¡±
3.
Have each student present their speech to the
class, or create a scrap
book of the speeches for
the classroom or to post
online.
Literary Tools Worksheet Answer Key (you may find more)
Parallelism
Antithesis
Conceived in liberty, dedicated Living, dead
to the proposition
Little note, long remember
That nation, that war, that field
What we say here, what they did
So conceived, so dedicated
here
Alliteration
Fourscore,
forth
Repetition
founding,
fathers, New nation, that nation, any
nation
New nation
So conceived, so dedicated
Continent, conceived
We are engaged, we are met,
we have come
Can not dedicate, can not con- Add, Detract
World will
secrate, can not hallow
Gave their lives, Nation might Note nor
Little note, long remember
live
We here highly
What we say here, what they
Of the people, by the people, for
did here
the people, perish
To the unfinished work, to the
great task, to that cause
That these dead, that this nation
Of the people, by the people for
the people
We cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow
Of the people, by the people for
the people
................
................
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